Trump opens first State of the Union declaring a mission to make America great again for 'all Americans'

State of our union by the numbers

Graham talks Miller, immigration amid shutdown

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If Trump repeals the ACA, here's how employer-based healthcare could change

Feb 24, 2017

About half of Americans still have healthcare through their employer. The Affordable Care Act impacted employer-based healthcare plans, changing rules on lifetime limits and pre-existing conditions, birth control and much more. If the Trump administration decides to replace or repeal ACA, these benefits could disappear.

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Secretary of Defense says government shutdown 'paralyzes everything that we do'

Though President Trump's remark that "African-American unemployment stands at lowest rate ever recorded" drew applause and a standing ovation from many on January 30, 2017, members of the Congressional Black Caucus remained seated and silent. Trump followed up the statement with one about Hispanic American unemployment levels.

During President Donald Trump's first State of the Union he honored the parents of two teen girls — Kayla Cuevas and Nisa Mickens — who were allegedly killed by MS-13 members in Long Island, NY. Trump emphasized his administration's efforts to take on the gang and points to its activities across the U.S. as a symptom of illegal immigration.

The stock market is soaring, smashing record after record. The unemployment rate has ticked downward. Some categories of violent crime are down, too. But more U.S. troops are stationed in war zones. More people are dying of drug overdoses. More people think race relations have gotten worse under Trump. A statistical deep dive into the state of the union before President Trump offers his own assessment on Tuesday night.

Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) told reporters after a bipartisan meeting of senators on Jan. 21 that he would vote to approve a three-week stopgap spending bill after Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) promised to move on immigration and other legislative issues in early February. He also pointed to White House senior policy adviser Stephen Miller as being one of the obstacles in preventing a bipartisan agreement on immigration.

Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C., said the Congressional Black Caucus has been fair to President Trump, but his record of nominations is poor. She said the nomination of Thomas Farr of North Carolina has spent his entire career "working against the rights of African Americans." Norton said Farr must not be confirmed on Thursday, January 18, 2018.

Rep. G.K. Butterfield, D-N.C., explained the recent history of the Eastern District of North Carolina. He said President Trump's nominee Thomas Farr is "probably the most unqualified, insensitive, uninformed, incompetent attorney. ... Thomas Farr is not only academically unqualified for this position, but he is racially insensitive."

President Donald Trump denied in a tweet on Thursday that he asked during a White House meeting why he should accept immigrants from “shithole countries” rather than people from places like Norway. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) responded to the tweet on camera, confirming that the president did use those words.

Video: Students from local universities share their experience being in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, an executive order which has protected nearly 800,000 young adult unauthorized immigrants from deportation and allowed them to work legally since 2012, during a protest organized by Alerta Migratoria NC against the Trump administration's decision to end the program at CCB Plaza in Durham on Tuesday, Sept. 5.